Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 202 Green Bridge and Hanging River
Su Ming glanced at Catherine, signaling her to speak. Catherine returned his gaze with a somewhat ambiguous look, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"Queen Catherine, would you like to leave with me first?" Daphne asked. "His Majesty Shariko is very worried about your safety."

“No, there are important matters to discuss here.” Catherine glanced at the guards behind Daphne and said bluntly, “but everyone else needs to leave.”

“If you wish to discuss this, you may move to my tent and dismiss my subordinates to speak in detail,” Daphne said with a slightly cold expression. “But if it is this Mr. Graves, then I apologize.”

Catherine had no choice but to pull Daphne aside and whisper in her ear, "His real name is Su Ming!"

"Su Ming?" Daphne didn't react at first. But the name was too special in this other world, and she quickly remembered where she had seen it before, her eyes widening suddenly.

Su Ming's hair stood on end, and he unconsciously took a half step back.

Daphne immediately turned around and unequivocally drove her guards away into the distance.

She then tidied her slightly disheveled hair, took a half step back with her right foot, and gracefully lifted her skirt to give a formal bow. "Good day! Scholar Ainz Ooal Gown! Please forgive my earlier offense!"

"Ah, good day, Your Highness!" Su Ming was clearly startled by this change in attitude. He hadn't learned the etiquette of this other world, so he could only raise his hand and wave.

There's a scholar's "ritual of intellect" in this other world, which would suit him. But he's never seen Violet use it!

Daphne suddenly realized something, "Kathelin, Ainz Ooal Gown and the Owl Scholar aren't here to deal with you, they're here to rescue you? What exactly is your relationship?"

“Let’s just call it a debt relationship,” Keisha replied casually. “They used to owe me, but now I owe them.”

Daphne breathed a sigh of relief, her tense shoulders finally relaxing. These two powerful individuals weren't enemies—this was incredibly good news!

In recent days, the assassination attempt, the queen's disappearance, the suspected rebellion, and the attack by the chestnut owl had weighed heavily on her like dark clouds. But now, the gloom suddenly vanished, and she was overjoyed, almost unable to contain her smile.

"Your Highness Daphne?" Catherine called softly when she saw the change in her expression.

"I'm fine." Daphne forcefully suppressed the urge to let loose, maintaining the decorum expected of a royal princess. She looked around. "Where is Scholar Chestnut Owl himself, and where is the Bone Train?" She noticed the broken tracks on the ground, her eyes lighting up. "It's nearby! You've hidden it!"

She looked at Su Ming with eager eyes, "Scholar Ainz, may I have the honor of visiting the Bone Fortress?"

Meanwhile, Price was discussing the battle plan to attack Dimit with Emilio when he saw that Daphne's personal guard had already returned. He looked around but couldn't find the princess.

"Where is Her Highness the Princess?" he asked hurriedly.

The reply they received was that Princess Daffyne and Queen Catherine had a pleasant conversation and had sent them back. The princess's exact words were that she would return in two hours and there was no need to worry.

Price quickly cast Eagle Eye on himself to look around, only to be horrified to find that the spot he had been in was now empty.

"It's all over!" He collapsed. Now, not only had they failed to find the Empress of the Star Empire, but their own second princess had also perished!

****
At the hiding place of the Youth Civilization Team, Su Ming led the group down.

Upon seeing the giant, pure white train, Daphne immediately went up to examine it closely, sometimes bending down to check the chassis structure, sometimes gently touching the outer walls of the carriages, and occasionally exclaiming in amazement.

"Is this what you mean by 'introductions are meaningless'?" Su Ming turned to Catherine, raising an eyebrow as he asked.

“Right, what’s so great about your fangirls?” Catherine spread her hands. “Don’t you have any idea what your technology means to scholars in this world?” She sighed as she spoke. “Given Daphne’s obsession with knowledge, this kind of reaction is obvious even to a child.”

“…Alright then.” Su Ming touched his nose.

After a brief and limited tour, the group arrived at the train's working carriage. Although they didn't understand the specific principles, witnessing these miraculous mechanical devices firsthand filled Daphne with excitement. "These things can be achieved without magic!" Her voice trembled with excitement. "This means so many possibilities! The development path of all-natural alchemy is indeed correct!"

As Yunier poured tea for everyone, she looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, everyone, the tea and snacks I prepared... have all been eaten," she explained softly.

"You flatter me," Su Ming said. There was no need to guess who the culprit was; having lost a bite of the honey cake, coupled with eating steamed buns for two days and two nights, had clearly filled the beast with rage.

“No need to be so polite.” Daphne gracefully picked up her teacup. “Scholar Su Ming, please state your request.”

"Our purpose in coming here is to rescue the necromancer imprisoned in the Holy Mountain Divine Might Prison," Su Ming said bluntly. "We hope you can help us conceal our whereabouts."

“I personally sympathize with these scholars and believe that most of them are innocent.” Daphne set down her teacup, sitting upright. “But as the acting governor of the Province of Bubing of the Cold Mountain Royal Family, this matter—”

"Why don't we hear about the terms of the deal first?" Su Ming said with a smile, "Acting Governor."

Daphne paused slightly, then nodded gently. "Excuse me, please go ahead."

While the Star Queen herself incurred the debt in rescuing Catherine, the Cold Mountain Kingdom avoided a serious diplomatic crisis, so the debt was still considered owed. Not to mention, the Cold Mountain royal family was undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary of Su Ming's group's victory over the Northern Lords' Alliance army with unclear intentions.

Daphne planned to compensate for these things with money and supplies, as she didn't want to get involved in complicated disputes. However, it seemed Su Ming had no intention of taking advantage of her kindness, and he seemed confident in the terms of the deal.

Since this was a formal transaction negotiation, Daphne should have respected the other party's willingness to put forward specific conditions, which is why she apologized earlier.
Su Ming took the "Azure Cloud Scroll" from Catherine, unfolded the terrain projection, and brought up a three-dimensional terrain map of the location of the Holy Mountain Divine Might Prison.

From where the Youth Civilization Train is now, there is a plateau side with an altitude of about 3,000 meters. But lying between the White Bone Train and the Holy Mountain Divine Might Prison is the main peak group of the Qiongding Mountain Range, with an average altitude of about 4,500 meters.

The Qiongding Mountain Coal Mine is located at an altitude of approximately 3,300 meters within the mountain range. Due to the mountain's obstruction, the coal mined there can only be transported south out of the snow-capped mountains to supply the southern region of the Cold Mountain Kingdom. Although the northern side, where Su Ming is currently located, is closer horizontally, it has no access to these resources.

Due to frequent avalanches, even the roads for transporting goods to the south are often interrupted.

As a geology scholar and head of the kingdom's mining operations, Daphne was naturally very familiar with these matters.

Without wasting words, Su Ming stretched out his hand and marked a nearly horizontal line from the 3,000-meter altitude of the snowy plain to the bottom of the Qiongding Mountain Coal Mine. "I can dig a five-kilometer-long tunnel through the mountain for you."

He saw the look of shock on Princess Daffylin's face as he had hoped. Just as he was about to continue explaining the details, he noticed that Princess Daffylin suddenly stood up and grabbed his hand in a flustered manner, "Yes!"

Daphne's hands gripped tightly, her whole body trembling, her lips pale with excitement. "I'll pay any price! Please complete this!"

****
A few minutes later, Daphne finally calmed down with Catherine's comforting words.

She unfolded her academic tools, displaying a much more detailed topographical map of the Dome Mountain Range than before. She took a few deep breaths, then stood up and explained to Su Ming and Zi Jin:
“The southern slopes of the Dome Mountains are influenced by the southwest monsoon, resulting in abundant rainfall.” Daphne’s fingertip traced across the map. “This southern slope is also the source of the Dome River, with a large amount of water flowing down from the mountaintop every year. The Sang River on this northern side also originates partly from seepage here.”

Su Ming also knew this: when warm and humid air currents rise along the mountains, they will form a lot of precipitation on the windward slope.

Daphne then incorporated an engineering diagram showing that many parts of the terrain had been modified and blocked, forming five sections of varying elevations.

“This is the ‘Green Bridge Suspended River’ designed under the guidance of Master Newman,” Daphne explained. “By building dams and other means, we can create five relatively gentle waterways of varying heights and lengths on the southern slope of the Dome Mountains, within a range of about 1000 kilometers. This will allow us to transport the produce of the Dome Mountains out of the country by alternating between water and land transport.”

As the diagram shows, the Qingqiao system is massive in scale, equipped with numerous facilities to facilitate land transport between waterways. It not only connects coal mines but also links other mining areas within the mountain range. Utilizing the abundant water resources on the southern slope to construct a canal system for transporting goods is indeed an excellent solution.

Based on Su Ming's understanding, this is the most ambitious land-based engineering project in the history of this other world. Its completion will undoubtedly bring about a qualitative change in the region's transportation and logistics. The large-scale, low-cost transportation of ore will improve the economic situation on the southern side of the Cold Mountain Kingdom, laying the foundation for its development.

If we were to equip these waterways with hydroelectric power stations and electrify the various mines—Su Ming shook his head; he had to change this bad habit.

However, Princess Daffylin's title of scholar is well-deserved, given her ability and drive to advance such a large project. When Su Ming was reading the materials, he saw that she had obtained this rating before she was even thirty years old, and he initially thought it was due to her royal status.

Now it seems that Su Ming was being narrow-minded.

“We started planning this project three years ago. The passing of Master Newman almost brought the project to a halt.” A hint of nostalgia and regret flashed in Daphne’s eyes. “...The remaining members of our team eventually completed the design work.”

"Newman's death has nothing to do with you?" Violet suddenly interjected.

“Of course, even if he is wanted because of his identity as a necromancer, we will do everything we can to protect him.” Daphne said with a face full of regret. “The warrant for his arrest came too suddenly, and the high bounty offered by the Cardinal Council caused chaos, with a large number of mercenaries rushing into the North. At that time, Master Newman was surveying on this side of the ice plains. I sent General Price with troops to protect him, but we were too late.”

"So the White Scattering Cavalry weren't coming for us?" Violet scratched her hair in frustration. Her friend's death was indirectly related to her.

Daphne confirmed, "Their only mission is to protect Newman."

Su Ming seemed to be deep in thought. "Doesn't this scene look familiar to you? People who shouldn't be fighting are getting into a brawl, while the mission they were supposed to carry out has failed?"

Six months ago, the White Scattered Cavalry unexpectedly clashed with the Bone Fortress, resulting in the death of Master Newman, who should have been under protection. If Su Ming hadn't remained suspicious, the same scenario might have played out again. The two sides, who shouldn't have fought, would have clashed a second time, allowing Dimit and his forces to escape.

Daphne didn't quite understand what Su Ming was saying, so Catherine patted her, indicating that she would explain it to her later.

Daphne nodded and continued, "Master Newman creatively used the model of the necromancy system to solve many of the problems of the Green Bridge Project. For example, the spine arch configuration—"

“Please skip these technical details,” Violet interrupted.

Daphne, unsuspecting, interpreted it as her being asked to focus on the key points. She continued, "The flaw in the Qingqiao Suspended River project is that while the system is easy to transport from top to bottom, it is very troublesome from bottom to top. If the plan operates smoothly, the Qiongding Mountain mining area will expand, requiring a large amount of construction materials, and its daily operation will also rely on the delivery of supplies."

The transportation costs for transporting goods across a 2000-meter elevation difference are very high. However, considering the profits from the huge ore production, it's not unacceptable. But Su Ming presented Daphne with another tempting solution: a tunnel from the Northern Plateau!
In this way, the Qiongding Mountain Range mining area can be continuously supplied with production materials and agricultural products from the vast northern land, which will greatly reduce the need for reverse transportation in Qingqiao Xuanhe.

Moreover, the mineral resources can also benefit the Northland, bringing this barren area, which occupies half of the kingdom's territory, into the benefit zone. The resulting vision and plan are truly wonderful!

“I apologize for the spectacle. Building a ‘Sky Road’ to improve transportation in the Dome Mountains has been a long-cherished wish of the Cold Mountain Kingdom,” Daphne said. “We need it.”

“My request is that you help us conceal our whereabouts,” Su Ming reiterated the conditions. “The White Bone Fortress must reach the Holy Mountain without being discovered by the Divine Might Prison.”

"How did you manage that?" Daphne asked. "The Lords' Alliance is already fully aware of your existence. The news will spread everywhere in no time. There's no way to stop it."

****
Zijin suddenly turned her head; there was a sound outside the carriage. She saw something with her omniscient vision, and a smile appeared on her lips. "Excuse me!" she said lightly, getting up and walking out of the carriage, then disappearing in a flash.

Although Su Ming found it strange, he didn't pay much attention to it. "I have a plan. First, we'll pretend that we've fought a battle and both sides have suffered losses to varying degrees, and then leak this information out."

(End of this chapter)